Flanders – Fast & Furious

There are so many things to love as a road cycling fan; the Grand Tours that play out over three weeks like a gripping novel, the exhilarating ebbs and flows of the one day Classics that leave you wishing that the roller coaster ride were endless, and the edge of your seat Criterium races that flash by like a quickly paced action movie.

While each may have their specific preference, the Classics are the proverbial straw that stirs the drink of professional cycling.

Early on Sunday morning, arguably the greatest week on the racing calendar, when two of the five monuments of cycling are run, begins with the 93rd Ronde van Vlaanderen.

The parcours have been slightly altered from last year’s edition, but there will still be plenty of bergs, including the Molenberg (130, C/A), Oude Kwaremont (178, C/A), Paterberg (182, C), Koppenberg (188, C), Taaienberg (196, C), Eikenberg (201, C) and the infamous Muur - Kapelmuur (244, C), to keep the riders occupied over the 260kms from Brugge to Ninove.

As with the Fast and Furious series of movies, the main cast of characters will be back to contest the Belgian classic, but a new host of riders are sure to create another blockbuster of a race.

The overwhelming favorite, Quick Step, will take to the start with perennial favorite Tom Boonen, Stijn Devolder, winner of the 2008 Ronde, and Sylvain Chavanel. They are sure to be tested by the likes of 2009 Het Volk winner, Thor Hushovd, and 2009 Milano-San Remo runner-up, Heinrich Haussler of Cervelo Test Team, Silence Lotto teammates Philippe Gilbert and Leif Hoste, Nick Nuyens and Juan Antonio Flecha of Rabobank, Team Columbia – HighRoad’s George Hincapie and Marcus Burghardt, Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) and Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank).


Other riders who might be of interest to North American fans include a pair of would-be Rock Racing teammates, sprinter Ivan Dominguez (Fuji-Servetto) and Baden Cooke (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team), and Dominguez's former Toyota-United teammate, Dominique Rollin (Cervelo Test Team), who some have tabbed as a legitimate darkhorse to win the cobbled classic.

Provisional Start List

In the 6th Ronde van Vlaanderen Vrouwen, the women’s edition of the Northern Classic, defending champion Judith Arndt’s (Team Columbia – HighRoad) absence, due to an injury, seems to leave the door wide open for Olympic Champion Nicole Cooke (Vision 1 Racing). But several other stalwarts of the women’s peloton including, but not limited to, Americans Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo Test Team) and Amber Neben (Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung), Emma Johansson (Red Sun Cycling Team), Bronze medalist at the Beijing Games in the road race, fellow Swede, Susanne Ljungskog (Team Flexpoint), Marianne Vos (DSB Bank - LTO), Kirsten Wild (Cervelo Test Team), and Team Columbia - HighRoad teammates Ina Teutenberg and Chantal Beltman, will surely have a say in the outcome.

In addition to Armstrong and Neben, a growing contingent of Americans racing in Europe will take to the line in Oudenaarde. Flying the red, white and blue over the 131.6km will be US National Team members Jessica Phillips, Lea Davison, Alley Stacher, Kristin McGrath, and Amber Rais.

After previewing the course Saturday afternoon, Rais had this to say, "The course itself is f---ing hard...Curious and excited to see how it is raced."


Other Americans in the race are Santa Barbara's Kimberly Anderson (Team Columbia - HighRoad), Carmen McNellis, who rode the Ronde as a member of the US National Team last year,and S.C. Michela Fanini Record Rox teammate Flavia M. Oliveira.

Provisional Start List

Images: www.rvv.be